Monday, August 27, 2012

Obviously Chatuchak is a weekend market-meaning it's open only on Saturdays and Sundays. Regardless, some stalls/shops do open on Fridays as well, albeit in a very limited numbers, and that was what i learned during my recent visit to Chatuchak-on Friday. Eventhough i was disappointed that my favourite stall selling shirts as well as one wonderful muslim food stall, named Saman Islam were closed, i did encounter something which i had never realized before, there was another small muslim food stall in Chatuchak, tucked away in a small corner, located nearby to the clock tower, and the stall name is Kahjak Restaurant.

It is fairly easy to locate this stall. From the clock tower, you have to find Saman Islam, which is ideally located at one of the angle of the clock tower. Once you have identified your direction, walk along the shop rows leading outward from Saman Islam and make sure you observed your left side and be aware of any alley ways leading inside area of the market, and you'll surely see this stall, at the entrance of the alley.

i heard the shop keepers spoke in Malay language and later was informed by the waiter that they came from Pattani.

This stall served local thai dishes as well as some western and Malay dishes as well, it's a mix of cultural tastes here, but medial in choices.

i ordered Seafood Fried Rice and Prawn Tom Yam.

as with other foods in Thailand-you will not be disappointed with the taste of the foods served here. The Tom Yam was mildly spicy and may not be sour enough, but still delicious as you can taste the freshness of the ingredients used especially the prawns.

The fried rice was a simple yet delicious dish and they included generous cuts of cuttlefish and prawns in it. It was also not salty, as most fried rice ive eaten before.

Another thing that i love about this stall is that the small space does not restrict the owner from decorating it with wonderful design from the checkered table-cloth, to the colourful wall decorations and pictures. I also noted that the tables here were actually being customized from old sewing machines. Even the small chairs used here seems rustic and artistic.

next time you are in Chatuchak Market, be sure not to miss the chance to visit this wonderful stall, not only to savour the foods served here, but the admire the creative artistic design of this stall.cheers...kay2012

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The next morning we were all up and readied for our trip to Kandy, a famous tourist attraction in Sri Lanka, for its cool highland atmosphere.

Our driver was already waiting for us at 8 am sharp, as promised. Our journey would take us around 3 hours, through long and winding rural road, as at the time of my trip, there is no modern highway completely constructed in Sri Lanka and there was one connecting Katunayake to Kandy was heavily under construction. At the time of this post im not sure whether that highway has been usable and in operation or not.

sceneries along our 3 hours journey...you can say that they look almost similar to our rural roads in Malaysia and the views along the road as well....complete with rubber tree plantation, what a stark similarity with Malaysia...

the first highway...under construction, this country really need a modern transportation infrastructure to propel their growth....

after a long and picturesque journey, we finally reached the city area of Kandy. This city is also famous as a gemstones centre, you will find many shops selling gemstones along the road and in the city.

The main attraction of Kandy is without doubt this temple/museum/palace complex.Needless to note visitors are not allowed to wear any headgear/caps and also headscarf. We did not venture further into the temple complex.

We walk around the outskirt of the temple complex and found a beautiful/old church. A nice eclectic mix of religious buildings around this area.

We walked further up, and found the rear entrance to the temple area, at first we were hesitant to walked inside as we saw some armed guards manning the gate into this area, however, somehow our driver managed to talk things over and we were finally allowed to enter the area, and he even managed to get an official of the museum to show us around like a private tour guide..talk about first timer's luck!

This small building stored many artifacts of the ancient people of Sri Lanka, and we have unlimited access to it!

if you are wondering, this is the "toilet bowl" of the yesteryear....

the palace...

another place to be visited in Kandy is the lake, which is centrally located in the city.Im not sure if this lake is considered as holy or not, but i didnt see any water activities being done here. People came by to take pictures and view the scenic beauty of the lake with friends and families.

On top of one of the hills surrounding Kandy, you will notice that one stood out from the rest, reason being there is a big white Buddha erected on top of it. And this buddha was our next destination in Kandy.

Once we arrived there, we noted that this is actually a temple, with the big buddha statue erected on top of it, making it to overlook the city of Kandy down the hill. This place should not be missed as well, eventhough you are not a Buddhist, you can still have a bird's eyeview of the city of Kandy from the temple's compound.

We had our lunch at a Pizza Hut restaurant in Kandy-a must try as they have some type of pizza flavour/toppings influenced by local dishes such as massala chicken etc. Thereafter we proceeded to visit a tea plantation-a visit to Kandy will never be complete without a visit to a tea plantation,right?

Im not sure of the location, but we passed through some really narrow village road to get here. This is the Geragama Tea Estate. The entrance of the estate is where the tea processing factory stands. To get to the tea plantation itself, you need to do some walking following some dirt road behind the factory.

and behold! fresh green tea leaves...i really love to see tea plantation..it's not only a beautiful view as they are laid out in properly arranged terrace but the fresh smell and colours of the tea leaves exude calmness to my soul....

after some photo taking sessions at the plantation-we head back to the factory area, to see the process of tea making, and to sample some fresh cup of Ceylon tea...

types/grades of teas produced here

hot cups of fresh world renowned Ceylon tea. It's not only the flavourful taste of the tea, but the bronze-golden colour of the tea makes it one of the highly prized beverage in the world.Many types of teas are being sold here as well, thus you may find something suitable to be brought home as souveniers here.

After an exciting day in Kandy-we headed back to Colombo. On our way
back we saw this magnificent view of Sigiriya. It's an ancient
palace/temple complex erected on top of a mountain. It's unfortunate
that we did not have time to visit it this time. But this view is like a
testament that we need to return someday to this wonderful country of
Sri Lanka as it has endless places of interest to be ventured and
visited.

The warmth welcome and hospitality of the people will never be forgotten. This country holds millions of opportunities and excitement, yet to be discovered... Kay2012